WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. – An 80-year-old West Bloomfield man is out over a grand after booking a hotel with an AI-booking website. Local 4 is learning he may not be the only one.
Ziv Barlach, of West Bloomfield, has been waiting 10 months for his money back -- with no end in sight.
The nightmare began when Barlach booked a trip to see his childhood friend for a birthday in Israel last summer.
“I don’t know how many birthdays I have left because I am 80, not 18,” Barlach told Local 4.
Barlach booked his flights, rental car and his hotel. He used his CapitalOne credit card to make the purchases.
“I made the reservation on June 6th, and everything was set,” Barlach said.
Or so, he thought.
“On June 13, a war began between Israel and Iran. As a result of that war, the state of Israel locked and shut up the airports. No arrivals and no departures were allowed,” he said.
He had to cancel the trip, so he called CapitalOne. Eventually, they refunded him for the rental car and flights, calling the war an “act of god.” CapitalOne said he needed to call the specific booking platform for the hotel.
Although he had paid for the hotel with his CapitalOne card, he’d booked it with a platform called Algotels. It’s an AI-driven site aimed at making hotel booking more affordable.
Barlach called and emailed.
“They said they would take care of me. Now, we are 10 almost 11 months later,” he said.
Then, he called the hotel directly. They said there was no reservation under his name.
If someone were to search ‘Algotels’ on the Better Business Bureau scam tracker, there are several people who say the same thing happened to them.
Eventually, they rejected his request.
“You are writing me that you are going to get back with me in 24 hours. You did not,” Barlach said.
Local 4 reached out to CapitalOne.
They responded with a link to travel protections for CapitalOne cardholders.
Local 4 pressed them for more. They say they sent the information to their investigations team and plan to have an update to Local 4 later this week.
Local 4 also called Algotels but could not get through to anyone. Additionally, Local 4 did not hear back via email.
“This is not because of me, I did not cancel the flight,” Barlach said.